The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Tuesday urged the government to move International Court of Arbitration immediately to stop India from constructing hydro-power projects in violation of the 1960 Indus Basin Treaty between the two countries which will turn Pakistan into a desert.
Government has been delaying a suitable response to the construction of Nimoo-Bazgo hydro-power project for past one year which amounts to facilitating Indian plot against Pakistan, Dr Murtaza Mughal, President PEW alleged. India has already constructed many dams including Baglihar and Kishanganga in violation of the IWT and now it has almost completed one of the highest hydro-power projects in the world on River Indus at Ladakh. Similarly, India has almost finished construction work on Chuttak hydro-electric project on the River Suru, a tributary of Indus in the Kargil while it has initiated plan to construct nine more dams in Ladakh region.
Dr Murtaza Mughal said that India is not only building dams with an amazing speed to destroy Pakistan but also sponsoring some politicians, nationalists, regionalists and pseudo-intellectuals to oppose Kala Bagh Dam to make Pakistan a failed state. Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters, officials of the water and power ministry, ministry of environment and foreign affairs have failed to react in time which tantamount to colluding with India, he observed.
He maintained that the water bureaucracy had always let India complete illegal projects quietly denying Pakistan the option of counter-measures. These projects would reduce the flow of River Indus which will badly damage masses, industry and agriculture of Pakistan he warned. Dr Mughal also appealed to the Supreme Court to take action against the water bureaucracy which failed to safeguard Pakistan's vital national interest when India was building the hydro-power projects.